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Table 2-9: U.S. Air Carriera Safety Data

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  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991b 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001c 2002 2003 2004 2005 (R) 2006 2007
Total fatalities 499 261 146 124 1 526 39 50 33 1 239 168 380 8 1 12 92 531 0 22 14 22 50 1
Total seriously injured persons N N 107 81 19 30 29 26 22 19 31 25 77 43 30 67 29 19 (R) 24 (R) 31 (R) 20 (R) 14 9 15
Total accidents 90 83 55 37 19 21 24 26 18 23 23 36 37 49 50 51 56 46 41 54 30 40 33 26
Fatal accidents 17 9 8 3 1 7 6 4 4 1 4 3 5 4 1 2 3 6 0 2 2 3 2 1
Aircraft-miles (millions) 1,130 1,536 2,685 2,478 2,924 3,631 4,948 4,825 5,039 5,249 5,478 5,654 5,873 6,697 6,737 7,101 7,524 7,294 7,193 7,280 7,930 8,166 8,139 8,140
Rates per 100 million aircraft-miles                                                
Fatalities 44.159 16.992 5.438 5.004 0.034 14.486 0.788 1.036 0.655 0.019 4.363 2.971 6.470 0.119 0.015 0.169 1.223 7.280 0.000 0.302 0.177 0.269 0.614 0.012
Seriously injured persons N N 3.985 3.269 0.650 0.826 0.586 0.539 0.437 0.362 0.566 0.442 1.311 0.642 0.445 0.943 0.385 0.260 (R) 0.334 (R) 0.426 (R) 0.252 (R) 0.171 0.111 0.184
Total accidents 7.965 5.404 2.048 1.493 0.650 0.578 0.485 0.539 0.357 0.438 0.420 0.637 0.630 0.732 0.742 0.718 0.744 0.631 0.570 0.742 0.378 0.490 0.405 0.319
Total accidents, fatal 1.504 0.586 0.298 0.121 0.034 0.193 0.121 0.083 0.079 0.019 0.073 0.053 0.085 0.060 0.015 0.028 0.040 0.082 0.000 0.027 0.025 0.037 0.025 0.012
Aircraft departures (thousands) N N N N 5,479 6,307 8,092 7,815 7,881 8,073 8,238 8,457 8,229 10,318 10,980 11,309 11,468 10,955 10,508 10,433 11,023 11,130 10,821 10,900
Rates per 100,000 aircraft departures                                                
Fatalities N N N N 0.018 8.340 0.482 0.640 0.419 0.012 2.901 1.986 4.618 0.078 0.009 0.106 0.802 4.847 0.000 0.211 0.127 0.198 0.462 0.009
Seriously injured persons N N N N 0.347 0.476 0.358 0.333 0.279 0.235 0.376 0.296 0.936 0.417 0.273 0.592 0.253 0.173 (R) 0.228 (R) 0.297 (R) 0.181 (R) 0.126 0.083 0.138
Total accidents N N N N 0.347 0.333 0.297 0.333 0.228 0.285 0.279 0.426 0.450 0.475 0.455 0.451 0.488 0.420 0.390 0.518 0.272 0.359 0.305 0.239
Total accidents, fatal N N N N 0.018 0.111 0.074 0.051 0.051 0.012 0.049 0.035 0.061 0.039 0.009 0.018 0.026 0.055 0.000 0.019 0.018 0.027 0.025 0.012
Flight hours (thousands) N 4,691 6,470 5,607 7,067 8,710 12,150 11,781 12,360 12,706 13,124 13,505 13,746 15,838 16,817 17,555 18,299 17,814 17,290 17,468 18,883 19,390 19,263 19,305
Rates per 100,000 flight hours                                                
Fatalities N 5.564 2.257 2.212 0.014 6.039 0.321 0.424 0.267 0.008 1.821 1.244 2.764 0.051 0.006 0.068 0.503 2.981 0.000 0.126 0.074 0.113 0.260 0.005
Seriously injured persons N N 1.654 1.445 0.269 0.344 0.239 0.221 0.178 0.150 0.236 0.185 0.560 0.271 0.178 0.382 0.158 0.107 (R) 0.139 (R) 0.177 (R) 0.106 (R) 0.072 0.047 0.078
Total accidents N 1.769 0.850 0.660 0.269 0.241 0.198 0.221 0.146 0.181 0.175 0.267 0.269 0.309 0.297 0.291 0.306 0.258 0.237 0.309 0.159 0.206 0.171 0.135
Total accidents, fatal N 0.192 0.124 0.054 0.014 0.080 0.049 0.034 0.032 0.007 0.030 0.022 0.036 0.025 0.006 0.011 0.016 0.034 0.000 0.011 0.011 0.015 0.010 0.005

Key: N = data do not exist; R = revised.

a Air carriers operating under 14 CFR 121, scheduled and nonscheduled service. Includes all scheduled and nonscheduled service accidents involving all-cargo carriers and commercial operators of large aircraft when those accidents occurred during 14 CFR 121 operations. Since Mar. 20, 1997, 14 CFR 121 includes aircraft with 10 or more seats formerly operated under 14 CFR 135. This change makes it difficult to compare pre-1997 data for 14 CFR 121 and 14 CFR 135 with more recent data.

b Does not include the 12 persons killed aboard a SkyWest commuter aircraft when it and a U.S. Air aircraft collided.

c Other than the persons aboard the aircraft who were killed, fatalities resulting from the September 11 terrorist acts are excluded.

NOTES

Miles, departures, and flight hours are compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration. Rates are computed by dividing the number of fatalities, serious injuries, total accidents, and fatal accidents by the number of miles, departures, or flight hours. These figures are based on information provided by airlines to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information.

SOURCES

Fatalities, accidents, miles, departures, and flight hours:

1960: National Transportation Safety Board, Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations, Calendar Year 1967 (Washington, DC: December 1968).

1965-70: Ibid., Calendar Year 1975, NTSB/ARC-77/1 (Washington, DC: January 1977).

1975 (all categories except miles): Ibid., Calendar Year 1983, NTSB/ARC-87/01 (Washington, DC: February 1987), table 18.

1975 (miles): Ibid., Calendar Year 1975, NTSB/ARC-77/1 (Washington, DC: January 1977 ).

1980: Ibid., Calendar Year 1981, NTSB/ARC-85/01 (Washington, DC: February 1985), tables 2 and 16.

1985-2007: Ibid., National Transportation Safety Board, Aviation Accident Statistics, available at http://www.ntsb.gov/aviation/Stats.htm as of December 2008.

Serious injuries:

1970-85: Ibid., Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

1990-2007: Ibid., Analysis and Data Division, personal communication, as of November 2008.
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